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ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
9/22/24 12:15 a.m.

 

Read about the crazy fly and drive to retrieve this truck here: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/fly-and-drive-gone-wrong-ideas/273005/page1/

Toyota 70-Series imported from Europe by a former owner and Land Cruiser enthusiast. This is a heavy-duty, LHD, 3.4-liter four-cylinder turbodiesel, manual-transmission, short wheelbase, 2-door, hardtop 4x4 with two-speed transfer case. It had a frame-off partial restoration at a Romanian Land Cruiser specialist in 2016-2017. I was hunting for the best-condition rust-free LHD SWB manual hardtop I could find, regardless of drivetrain. The plan is to use it as a showcase for products at my work, and use it as a minimalist overlander for exploring the backcountry routes around the Pacific NW.

 I plan to use this thread to document maintenance, upgrades, repairs, and adventures. Questions and comments welcome!

wawazat
wawazat SuperDork
9/23/24 7:15 a.m.

Nice!  I'm looking forward to what you do with this one!

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/15/24 12:13 a.m.

Since getting home, a few things have been repaired, and a few more things needing attention have been identified.

The first order of business was the charging system. Testing indicated that the alternator wasn’t charging, or at least wasn’t charging much. I suspected that the brushes in the alternator were probably toast, so I ordered replacements.

Apparently you can service the brushes with the alternator in place if you are dexterous, but I figured it might be easier just to pull it and do it on the bench. Getting the alternator off and out was a bit more involved than I anticipated. Since it is a diesel, it has a vacuum pump for the brakes which is attached to the back of the alternator. The pump is lubricated by engine oil that is plumbed into the alternator by a hose, and also has a drain hose. I ended up disconnecting the oil lines and taking pump and alternator out as a unit.

In the process of removing the alternator, I got so frustrated with the brush guard, I ended up just taking it off. I was already contemplating removing it. It doesn’t offer much protection for the lights, I’m not sold on the looks of it, and it makes opening the hood a real pain because it runs right where your hand needs to be to release the catch. To top it off, it makes access to the engine bay from the front of the truck really difficult. I suppose the risk of hitting a big animal is always possible, but doesn’t seem to be a huge risk in my area. I’ve been driving on backroads for thirty years with no collisions. We don’t have many deer around here. The wooded areas=livestock fencing and the areas of open range with potential wandering livestock=open with very few trees and great visibility. I’m also good at identifying areas that are likely to be elk/deer crossings and slow down in those scenarios, so I don’t feel the need for a bull bar. I can always install recovery points and/or driving lights to the bumper as needed.

I got the alternator apart on the bench, and the brushes were completely worn out. They were several millimeters beyond the minimum spec, and I could see that one hadn’t been making contact in a while.

I desoldered the old bushes, and borrowed my co-worker to help with soldering the new ones in place. It is an easy job requiring one hand (or a clamp/vise) to hold the brush assembly, one hand to compress the spring and hold the brush in place, one hand to hold the wire lead at the correct length, one hand to hold the soldering iron, and one more hand to hold the solder…easy! 🤣

I cleaned up the inside (to get good contact) and a bit of the outside of the alternator and buttoned it back up and dropped it into place. The repair seems to have worked! One of the two batteries isn’t happy. After a few days on the trickle charger, I tested both. One was rock solid at 13.15V. The low-side one read 12.5V, no 12.9, wait..13.1, no…now it is 11.0, no…11.5, wait…11.8, now 12.4, no…hmm. Seems like a dead/dying cell. 

I will probably replace both batteries before too long to keep a matched pair for size/model/age which is apparently essential for good battery life with the 24V system. So far with the fixed alternator it seems to have enough juice to start, and run the lights as needed, but I don’t know how long I can trust the batteries, and an imbalance will kill the healthy one eventually. Replacing them will be a good opportunity to replace the tired old terminals and take a look at some decidedly non-factory wiring, plus look into the aftermarket 12V converter to see what is going on there.

The next issue to pop up was an existing minor oil leak. At first it was tough to tell where it originates. There were drips off the corner of the sump, one ear on the bellhousing, the transmission crossmember, and the front driveshaft. Could have been anything from sump to rear main to the transfer case. After several rounds of cleaning, I isolated it to the sump, and pinpointed the oil return from the turbo where it enters the sump. The aftermarket line goes into a bung that I suspect was added when the turbo was added, and it looks to be leaking between the flange of the bung and the sheet metal of the sump. To repair it properly and I’m almost certain I’ll have to drop the sump pan.

The other very minor leak is from the steering box. It seems to be at the rate of a few drops a week, so not the highest priority, but would be nice to fix eventually.

I started making a plan to tackle some routine maintenance that I typically try to do on any used vehicle that is new to me. I bought some parts to this end. The list includes:

-Oil/filter change with analysis 

-Sedimenter clean

-Diesel purge

-Check the drain for errant fluids In the injector pump

-Check/lube the injection pump diaphragm

-Air filter replacement 

-Drain/flush/replace coolant

-Fix a couple broken clips for wiring/plumbing in the engine bay

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/15/24 12:30 a.m.


With the charging system working, I drove it around town for a few days to keep familiarizing myself. I love the looks without the brush guard! 😁

I ordered some upholstery samples at work from West Trading as options for center cushions on custom seats made with grey sides to work with the rest of the grey interior. I want to embrace the 80's-ness, and tie into the red exterior with a pattern that will work well with the grey interior.


 

It isn't just about the pattern. The texture, weave, feel, breathability, and durability of the material are all concerns, and the swatches will allow me to examine and feel them carefully to make sure they will work.

iansane
iansane GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/15/24 10:20 a.m.

This thing is awesome. Cool to see you tinkering away with it. How well do you fit in it? Aren't a tall dude?

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/15/24 5:17 p.m.

In reply to iansane :

Yes, I'm 6'2" and the fit is great. Miles of headroom, decent legroom, and OK elbow room. It doesn't feel small inside at all. I'm sure the square greenhouse with big windows and thin doors help. The stock seats are pretty bad; the bottom cushion is really short front-to-back so it only supports less than half my thigh. The space behind the front seats is basically an empty cube about 4 feet by 4 feet by 4 feet. Not shabby for a truck that has external dimensions 14" shorter and 7" narrower than a current RAV4! laugh

DarkMonohue
DarkMonohue GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/15/24 10:46 p.m.

This promises to be a fun one. I'm in.

DarkMonohue
DarkMonohue GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/16/24 12:33 a.m.
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) said:

I will probably replace both batteries before too long...

Good timing!  As of today, batteries are on sale at Bi-Mart.  Their prices on batteries have been far better than anyone else's for the past few years, so it might be worth a trip across town.

Verify, but I think this is a BJ71.  If the cross-reference junk on the internet is correct, that takes Group 35 batteries, which are $99.95 on sale (link).  You may have to mount the LH battery with terminals outboard rather than inboard but I suspect you have the cable length and hood clearance to do that.

 

iansane
iansane GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/16/24 10:35 a.m.
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to iansane :

Yes, I'm 6'2" and the fit is great. Miles of headroom, decent legroom, and OK elbow room. It doesn't feel small inside at all. I'm sure the square greenhouse with big windows and thin doors help. The stock seats are pretty bad; the bottom cushion is really short front-to-back so it only supports less than half my thigh. The space behind the front seats is basically an empty cube about 4 feet by 4 feet by 4 feet. Not shabby for a truck that has external dimensions 14" shorter and 7" narrower than a current RAV4! laugh

That's amazing. The defender I picked up looks about the same size but is HORRIBLE with room. It's seriously meant for midgets. Headroom is fine, but everything else is terrible. I feel like I could tuck the door under my arm when I shut it while gently rubbing the dash with my knees.

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/17/24 12:42 a.m.

In reply to DarkMonohue :

Awesome; thanks for the tip!

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/17/24 12:48 a.m.

In reply to iansane :

Oof; comfort for not-small people in older SWB 4x4s can be a challenge! I think you were talking to my co-worker regarding Defender seat options. 
 

I'll see if I can get some photos and measurements of the space in the 70-Series and post them here. Let me know if you have any D90 seat questions; the cab in those is tight, but there are some factors that can help like a bulkhead delete and aftermarket steering wheel.

iansane
iansane GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/17/24 10:13 a.m.
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to iansane :

Oof; comfort for not-small people in older SWB 4x4s can be a challenge! I think you were talking to my co-worker regarding Defender seat options. 
 

I'll see if I can get some photos and measurements of the space in the 70-Series and post them here. Let me know if you have any D90 seat questions; the cab in those is tight, but there are some factors that can help like a bulkhead delete and aftermarket steering wheel.

Wait, you're at Scheel-Mann?! Somehow I think I knew that but never connected the dots correctly. I really, really like that Traveler design with the battery access. I know he was trying to steer me into a more readily available, better bang for the buck option but that seat just speaks to me. Haha. It's got an aftermarket tiny little wheel so that helps a little.

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/18/24 12:16 a.m.

In reply to iansane :

Yup, I've been at scheel-mann since the start of 2022 and it has been awesome. I'll double check on the Traveler for you and confirm pricing/ETA.

I drove the Cruiser today and noted a couple of things. In a comfortable driving position there's only a few inches from my elbow to the door, but I never notice it being an issue. If I flap my arm upward and push my elbow out I can easily hit the inner door, but I have to intentionally try. I measured the interior width, and it is 57 inches across the inside from door card to door card.

My coworker snapped some photos of me at the wheel.

Headroom isn't quite enough for a top hat, but close!

You can probably deduce that the stock seat back only comes up to my lower/mid shoulder blade. Here's the legroom/seat cushion:

Plenty of knee/leg clearance to the dash and the large stock steering wheel. The front 4-5 inches of bottom cushion aren't in contact with my thighs. There isn't a dead pedal, but it isn't as weird as I thought it might be. With the upright seating position, it actually works well to rest my foot on the floor when not using the clutch. If I fitted a dead pedal, the angle of my foot/ankle would change, but I don't think the height of my knee or angle of my thigh would change much because there isn't room/depth in the footwell to extend my leg much further forward, dead pedal or not. My left leg would be like a mirror of my right if there were a dead pedal, and you can see that my legs are mostly aligned even though my feet are at different angles.

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/18/24 12:33 a.m.

I'm really digging this combination for upholstery for the new seats. The current seat covers are aftermarket and a bit darker than stock from what I can tell. The grey leatherette and lighter grey stripes in the cloth both go really well with the lighter grey door cards, main dash color, and steering wheel. The darker grey stripes in the cloth work well with the carpet, column, dash top, and door handles. 

When working with a stock interior that already has 3-6 different shades, a match is essentially impossible, because what do you match to? I find it best to go for a pattern/combination that works well as part of the assemblage. The end result usually looks better and more intentional than an attempt at a match.

I want the end result to be a little bit eye-popping, but still plausible as something that could have been offered as an original upholstery combination.

DieterRewitzky
DieterRewitzky None
10/18/24 2:08 a.m.

In reply to ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) :

Looks good. Even the red is close to the paint colour.

iansane
iansane GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/18/24 10:23 a.m.

Wow, I'm really impressed with how much functional room there is in that thing. I mean, I know you can how large the cabin is but it's all usable space. Like you said, your elbow is close to the door but in normal movement you wouldn't touch it. Crazy.

That upholstery combo really pops. BMW has their "Design Edition" interiors on the e30s and it really reminds me of that with small inclusions of color to draw the whole thing together. It's a great touch.

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
10/22/24 12:10 a.m.

Small victories. I replaced the ancient , yellowed, cracked and crumbling dome light cover. I also tucked the errant headliner back in. Now I'm realizing someday soon I should probably see how the disgusting dirty headliner cleans up. 😊

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/1/24 1:01 a.m.

This week I managed to check a few more things off the list. I checked the air filter, and it looks to be in great shape...I'd even say nearly-new. I left the filter as-is and will put the new one I bought on the shelf for the future.

I lubed all the lock cylinders with graphite, which helped with the notchy and creaky feeling on some of them.

I did some seat test-fitting trying two different seat mounting brackets. 

I tried our own scheel-mann two-part bracket which fits the 1999-2024 version of these trucks. Since our bracket was developed for the later trucks, we don't have it listed as compatible with the 1984-1999 trucks, but the basic architecture is the same, so I had to try, for both personal and professional reasons. This bracket adapts to the stock sliding rails. It is close, but doesn't fit...the width isn't the same between early and late. The top plate is missing in the photo below as it doesn't bolt up due to the rail spacing difference from the later trucks.

Next up was the bracket from Planted Technology, which is a complete replacement that involves removing the stock sliding rails and bolts to the floor of the cab at the stock mounting points.

I got a demo seat in super easily with our own double-locking sliding rails. Everything bolted together on the first go.

The height and angle of the seat bottom cushion is perfect for someone tall like me! The thigh support is improved, and I gained around 1.5" inches of headroom and legroom! The rearward slope of the lower cushion really helps with comfort. The mounting is really solid, and I'm stoked to add double locking sliders.


No love lost with the stock seat; I doubt this will return to the cab. I was concerned that the tall seat back of the scheel-mann XXL might contact the windshield when tilted forward, but the test fit proved no such worries. I'll be ordering my new seats before the end of the week.

I'm pleased that the diesel Cruiser has been starting readily even with the recent colder weather. The interior defrost is marginal for a cold rainy day with multiple wet people inside until it is fully warm and has been running for a while. I'm hoping going through the HVAC ductwork and adding weatherstripping as needed plus tuning up the selector cables/doors will help.

DarkMonohue
DarkMonohue GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/1/24 1:50 a.m.

You will likely find some compromised or missing foam on the blend doors and a few other places in the HVAC tract that could be sealed up or adjusted. Old is old. 

If and when you get to the thermostat, by all means use an OEM Toyota part. Thermostats are shining examples of parts the aftermarket just does not do as well as the factory suppliers. The difference in warmup time and in maintaining a consistent temperature can be considerable. Just guessing here, but that could be especially critical in a diesel that doesn't build heat at low load the same way a gasser does.

Out of curiosity, have you checked air temperature at the registers with the heater on full and engine warmed up?

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/2/24 12:16 a.m.

In reply to DarkMonohue :

Good call! I've had positive results on previous 1980's Toyota projects going through the ducts and blend doors adding weatherstripping foam and lubing cables, so I expect this one will benefit as well. Thanks for the suggestion.

I also appreciate the reminder on the thermostat. Over the years on my AE86, KP61, AW11, ZZE140, and ZN6 projects I have come to appreciate genuine Toyota parts quality in certain areas.

I haven't put a thermometer to the air coming out of the vents, but the hand test says the outbound air is hot once everything is at full operating temp. What makes me want to dive into the HVAC guts is that the selector on the dash can be fully on defrost and I feel quite a bit of air coming out the face/hand vents. Same when on feet. 🤔

Conversely, there's also a lot of glass on the windshield, and that glass is fairly upright and tall above the dash vents. I think the upshot is that a bit of work on the existing components won't hurt, and is likely to improve things. I think it is a reasonable next step.

My takeaway from driving it this week is that it is really fun to try and optimize the powerband and time the shifts on the H55F to keep it on boil. The shifter feel is pretty amazing for a long-throw truck transmission. So gratifying when you get it right and everything just flows up and down through the 'box! 😊

DarkMonohue
DarkMonohue GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/2/24 11:32 a.m.

Absolutely! I remember how blown out (absent, really) the blend door foam was on my old sunburned TE51, and how satisfying it was to hear it close with a soft "whump" instead of that plastic "clack!". Working the (literal) kinks out of the stiff old cables and lubing them up felt like winning the lottery. Good times.

Your thermostat is 90916-03103 (supersedes 90916-03059) and should be available stateside. Let me know if your local dealer isn't giving you wholesale and I'll put you in touch with mine. Not to be coy, but I try to be discrete in matching them up with specialty customers, so I don't usually post the URL. The gasket is 16341-56020, apparently not part of the US parts system, but you can easily make your own.

Aisin makes a fine box. At least I'm assuming yours is Aisin - there is not much in the way of info in my bootleg EPC, because theoretically, the catalog should identify the correct parts by application, no disassembly required. Which transmission does this thing have?

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/2/24 10:22 p.m.

In reply to DarkMonohue :

Awesome; thanks for the thermostat part number! 

The gearbox is the Toyota H55F heavy-duty 5-speed manual. I think it is made by Aisin, but not completely sure. It is what Toyota uses when they deem the R15x transmissions not beefy enough.

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/2/24 10:30 p.m.

Today's small task was fitting boots to the control stalks on the steering column. The stock column has holes that result in a somewhat unfinished look. The aftermarket has answered with 3D-printed rubber boots that stretch over the stalks and have a ridge/groove to snap into place in the hole.

Before:

After:


 

thatsnowinnebago
thatsnowinnebago GRM+ Memberand UberDork
11/4/24 4:42 p.m.

Those little boots are slick. Really does clean up the column

ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter)
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand SuperDork
11/9/24 8:57 p.m.

The Cruiser sailed through emissions testing with flying colors. One step closer to finalizing the paperwork. I'll try to set aside half a day to visit the DMV this coming week.

A couple days ago I was running an errand from work and it suddenly started making an alarming rhythmic knocking just off idle. I was worried for a moment, but it was more noticeable at light load and disappeared under load, and didn't exactly sound like bottom-end noises, which lead to me continuing on to work. My co-worker kindly crawled underneath and quickly identified a freshly-broken exhaust hanger which means the exhaust can rattle around. 😅

The hanger should be an easy fix, and at least the weather was gorgeous that day.

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